To help her brother-in-law acquire land, there is nothing Miss Emma Shepherd will not do. Even if it means pretending to like a man plagued by rumor. Yet that is precisely what she does with Lord Michael Bracken, a reclusive baron who spends his days drinking in squalor.

Lord Michael Bracken cares nothing for love and after losing at a game of chance, he is now perhaps England's poorest baron. Now, he prefers drinking to being in the company of the best of society. Temptation stirs inside him, brought on by the innocent Emma, whose lips beg to be kissed. Fortunately for him, a snowstorm has her trapped in his home with no means for escape.

The intimacy they are forced to share in such close quarters sparks a fire in Emma that she fears only the baron can quench. Yet, will his newfound feelings be enough for Michael to garner the courage to place one last wager?